DV Funding, Financial Assistance During COVID, A Run on Guns: Your civic action to-do list for 4-27-20
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We are all trying to figure out how to live in this new reality. At JWI, our hope is that by providing you information on what is happening in Congress and on the issues we advocate on behalf of every day, you will not only be better informed, but will be inspired and able to take action on behalf of yourself, your community, and the country. We thank you for everything you are doing. Please let us know how we can be most helpful and supportive during this difficult time. Stay safe.
3. Victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault are at great risk right now, and the programs that serve them are having to change the way they provide help to meet their needs.
In a nutshell: The next stimulus package that Congress passes must include funding for these programs in order to help survivors now and into the future.
Take action: Watch our CEO, Meredith Jacobs, talk about how coronavirus is disproportionately impacting women, especially survivors of violence, in a recording of JCPA’s webinar “Women During the Pandemic”.
2. Last week Congress passed legislation that increases funding for the Paycheck Protection Program, but Congress has yet to take action on the gaps that still exist in the paid leave and paid sick day provisions in previous stimulus packages.
In a nutshell: Only 12% of workers in essential businesses are receiving sick leave benefits as a result of the coronavirus relief packages. Because the bills have carveouts for large corporations, companies with more than 500 employees do NOT have to provide emergency paid sick days and paid leave.
Take action: Learn if you have a right to paid sick time, paid family leave, or income support through unemployment insurance here!
1. The FBI ran almost four million background checks on firearms last month. That means that it is likely that over four millions people legally purchased guns in March, including those who purchased firearms through private or unlicensed dealers.
In a nutshell: People are buying guns because they are scared – they want to feel protected and safe in a time of great uncertainty, but what they don’t realize is that research shows that guns make people less safe in their homes. When a gun is in the home the rates of accidental shootings increase, suicide increases, and homicide increases.
Take action: Tell your member of Congress to support common sense measures like an assault weapons ban, universal background checks, and denying abusers access to guns!